With March comes the first day of spring and all the promises of a new beginning. For many, this month has special significance. The first day of spring - March 21st - marks the New Year, or Norouz, for people of Persian descent.

The holiday is the most honored celebration in the greater Persian world. (Persia includes the countries of Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and portions of western China and northern Iraq.) Norouz has been celebrated for over 3,000 years as its roots stretch back to Zoroastrianism, one of the world's oldest religions.

As the centerpiece of celebration, is the Haft Seen, a table set with seven different items, each beginning with the letter 'S' in Farsi. Each item has a symbolic meaning. For instance you will find sabzeh, wheat sprouts growing in a dish symbolizing rebirth; seeb, apples symbolizing beauty and health; sekkeh, coins representing prosperity and wealth.

Every inch of the house is cleaned and new clothes are purchased in anticipation for the New Year and the rebirth of nature. The celebration lasts twelve days, where friends and family visit one another and renew old ties. On the thirteenth day, the holiday culminates with a visit to the riverside. I often take this opportunity to visit one of my favourite rivers, the Restigouche.

The Restigouche River is located in north-western New Brunswick and the south-eastern part of Quebec, forming an inter-provincial boundary between the two provinces. It measure approximately 200 kilometres and flows in a north-easterly direction from its source in the Appalachian Mountains to the Bay of Chaleur.

The Mi'kmaq called the river "he who disobeys his father." According to legend, it was named by a distraught Mi'kmaq chief whose son disobeyed him by leading an expedition against the Mohawks who were poaching salmon and he was massacred on the banks of the river.

An American writer on the other hand, called it "the river out of Eden" because of its abundance of salmon. In fact, the Restigouche River is world-renown for its Atlantic salmon fishing and attracts people from far and wide, and even the rich and famous. Maurice Richard, Lord Beaverbrook, Bing Crosby, George Bush, Brian Mulroney, the Eaton family and even the Duke of Windsor have come to New Brunswick to experience angling on the Restigouche River. Granted, it is only the rich who can afford it given that the New Brunswick government's Department of Natural Resources auctions fishing leases for sections of the river to the highest bidder. Such leases are time limited and can cost millions of dollars. Luckily, for those of us who can't afford fishing on the Restigouche, canoeing is free and enjoyable by all nature lovers. With the arrival of spring, the river begins to flow again and its banks become lush and green.

For Norouz, we bring our sabzeh by the riverbed, tie a knot in it and make a wish for the New Year that lies ahead.